Unity
by NocturnalThoth
Summary: Using most the DoA characters five years after the DoA 4 tournament. Details what they have been doing and brings most back together under one unifying cause.
1. Chapter 1 A Night to Remember

Chapter 1 – A Night To Remember 

"So are you performing tonight?"

This wasn't so much of a question of ability or anxiety, she could perform tonight - she would definitely perform tonight. No it was more a question about emotional ability, every night there was always a question about whether or not she could handle being on stage. She had been preparing for opera her whole life, years ago she even had some mediocre success - had being the key word. She pushed away the images of her mother, the hole in her chest, the hole so big you dare not look, for you could probable see straight through it.

Helena stands up and looks in the mirror for a second, her dress looks absolutely stunning and that gives her some confidence. As she runs her fingers over the varying colors of blue and gold she thinks about the audience. Most have probably never heard of her, never knew she had a mother assassinated on stage, and would never guess how close she came to ending it all. Then again there was the passion, the passion for the song and for the emotions aroused by the songs. Long ago her mother passed her an adage about performers without passion, about how they can never make it for long: the demands of the audience, the production house, and the demands on your body to perform. She would talk to her as they sat there together on the piano her mother singing in between sentences, telling her about those she had worked with who couldn't take it for more than a few years. She can remember these talks as if they had happened yesterday, the flowery smell of her mothers perfume and the way her mothers hair would sway from side to side as she sang.

Helena had always been attractive, as a girl she was cute, as a teen she was pretty, and as an adult she was beautiful. The last five years hadn't helped her much, she still had long blonde hair and deep blue eyes, but her expressions seemed to be less positive and more indifferent. The last two years had been better, the last two years she had been performing and it was exactly what she needed.

"Of course I will be on stage tonight, " Helena finally answers.

The production manager, was a short man with large bald spot on top of his head. He was the closest thing she had to family, he had worked with her mom for longer than she could remember and at the funeral he was the one who stayed with her long after everyone had left.

Pierre looks at her sadly and bows, "Your mother would be proud."

It is not the words, well not simply the words, it is hearing them in French, it is hearing them as all her friends would have said them. Berlin has been very accommodating and she has enjoyed her time here, but Germany is not France, and Berlin is not Paris. She looks into the mirror on the vanity table and begins to drift away her eyelids slowly closing.

She is awaken by a soft rapping at her dressing room door, it catches her off guard and she takes a moment to remember where she is at. Finally she looks over at the clock on the wall and notices she must have slept, or daydreamed, for about ten minutes. Still plenty of time for the show. There is another knock,

"Fräulein Helena?" Comes from behind the door.

"Come in," She finally responds.

One the front-end personnel slowly enters the room, a blonde man about medium height and a slightly small frame holding a program with some handwriting written over the text. His English is as bad as Helena's German, but still they try to communicate.

"It was girl and boy, to see you," The words hesitantly leaving his mouth.

Helena takes the program and looks at the writing, it takes her only a second to read and after her face lights up. In response the man now seems as though he has done something good and he begins to smile and stand more confidently. It seems as though she may even cry, she stands there for a second, and then sets the note on her vanity. She reaches down and grabs a small slip of paper and makes a motion to the man the she needs a pen. He quickly reaches into his Tux and pulls out a black pen, she quickly scrawls some words on the slip and hands the note to the man,

"Take this note to Pierre," She emphasizes the name, even if he can't understand the sentence he knows who the Production Manager is. He takes the note and begins to turn when she grabs him, he turns back around to face her.

She reaches down and grabs the program with the handwriting on it and speaks again, "Bring them here after the show. Verstehst du?" She finally remembered the phrase she was looking for, 'do you understand,' at least she hoped she was right.

"Ja," He says as he reaches for the door know and exits the room.

It seems tonight will be one of the rare nights where things happen better than anticipated. She sits back down, this time on the couch and begins to think. It had been a long time since she had any good news; it had been a long time since she could remember actually being happy to see someone. Maybe her mother would be proud, not about her brief foray into running a multi-national company, but that she was actually back on the stage, and that there were at least two people who cared she was alive.

She knew they were both from Germany and had run across them shopping at a local health food store. She couldn't believe her eyes at first. She tried to avoid them but when she was at the register they and recognized her. It was a pleasant surprise that after their last meeting they wouldn't simply try to kill her right there, right by the magazines talking about celebrities. She was amazed about how much they knew, the assassination attempt, the secret lab experiment, and the destruction of the company headquarters. They had met for tea one other time and the conversation was quite delightful, it seemed that everything was working out for them. That was two years ago, and in truth it was their ability to bounce back that had inspired her to begin singing again, they were the ones responsible for what popularity she had regained, and for that she was delighted to see them.

As she lay there on the couch she began to think about how wonderful this night had turned out to be, she tried to focus on the lyrics but found herself to happy to think about heartbreak and death as the lyrics proclaimed. There was nothing she though, nothing that could ruin this perfect night. Unfortunately for her nothing was sitting in a cheap motel, and nothing ran across her picture in the paper, and nothing was dialing her number right now...


	2. Chapter 2 From the Shadows

Chapter 2 – From the Shadows 

It is comfortable weather for a stakeout, at least something has gone his way recently. After the disaster in Ukraine he needs something to go his way, he needs to finish this. He has the patience of a mountain most of the time but recently this has gotten personal, no one escapes him twice. He continues his cross legged breathing exercise, forcing his anger to a more productive place, that place of course is out side of his head. Hopefully his source is correct, if they come here like reported he can end this, tonight he can be free again.

He had been close at the explosion of the Tri-towers but there were other, more pressing matters. He should have had been successful in China, but he could not have predicted she would get help. Ukraine was out of his hands, but a true Ninja never believes anything in this world is outside his control. The music coming from inside is quite foreign in tongue, but in his heart he can feel the music and each word touches him, it is not the language of opera that matters it is the soul. He has spent nearly a half-decade trying to finish this job, half a decade he could have spent bettering his skills or his mind. If his information is correct she will be dead before the sun comes up, there will be no tears for one such as her, no one mourns the dead of an abomination.

It was summer in China the first time he was close and that was nearly a year and half ago. That summer was one of the worst in that province's history, he should have taken that as an omen. It became almost impossible to remain focused on the mission after waiting for several hours on a rooftop, or hiding in some small space closer to the ground. The heat would play tricks on you, your body would pretend to fall for them, suddenly every person who walks by looks exactly like your target.

None of that was as bad as what happened in Ukraine.

He hears a noise from the alley below his eyes open his he glimpses what he has been looking for all these years, the end is finally here. He reaches toward his shoulder to remove the katana from its sheath on his back, ever quiet, ever patient. Slowly the masterpiece begins to reveal itself, the sword of his father, and his fathers' father, his redemption.

There are two figures on the street below, both are wearing trench coats, both trying to blend in. Even from five stories up it is clear which one is his target, their body sizes are vastly different, but even without that he could tell. Even if the target didn't emit a faint blue-green light, he can sense when she is near, he can feel it in his bones, his muscles, and even taste her in his mouth. The figures move to where they are now almost directly below him, 'Good,' he thinks, 'We can make this quick.' His legs begin to coil for the final pounce. The battle flashes in his mind, all the moves as choreographed as ballet, as he falls the kitana slices the creature asunder, before her companion can respond a solid kick to the mid section, smoke charge and I vanish. Mission accomplished, honor restored.

Before he can jump there is a loud from the area underneath him and to his left. He drops back down to what has happened, he notices another person walking toward his targets, he sees the large metal door shut behind her. It only takes him a second and he realizes where he knows her from, he lowers the cloth from around his face and pulls out a small piece of black plastic, and brings it to his mouth.

"Tell him I am in Germany," He pauses for a second, "Things have just become complicated."

The small communication device goes back into the pouch on his belt and the waiting game begins again. He leaves the cloth off his face, there would be no reason to put it back, there will be no ambush tonight. Even though all three are strong fighters, two could have been dispatched quickly but three means a fight, and a fight means police, and more importantly innocents.

So the waiting game begins again, the correctly named "super ninja," Ryu Hayabasu, is again sitting on a rooftop, waiting.


	3. Chapter 3 Life on the Road

Chapter 3 – Life on the Road 

Since his companion doesn't sleep it has made keeping one step ahead of the hunters much easier. It was a fluke that he decided not to kill her in China, if he had, life would be much better. He still has no idea how they made it out of Ukraine alive, they should have died in that hangar, everyone else did. What made them so special?

She did. She – if you could call it a 'her' - was different than anyone, and that was why he was trying to keep her alive. They shared a common thread and that made things easier. They had each had their life ruined by one man, one egomaniacal scientist who sought world domination. He thought about Donovan everyday, he thought about being locked in that cell as the tower exploded from within, he thought about Donovan burning alive. That thought made him smile. Even though that was all in the past he felt it everyday, some of the scars were mental, but most could be seen.

He had been awake for a few minutes but he still pretended to be asleep, there was still some thinking to do and he did his best thinking right after he woke up. If he had killed her like he was paid to do none of this would have happened, no one would have died in China (except her,) and all those people in Ukraine would still be on this side of the dirt. Doesn't matter now he thought, all that matters is finding a way to end all this running, if there was only a way to lose the pursuers for good.

"I know you are awake," Came from a chair in the room. "Sometimes you pretend to be asleep after you are awake. Do you find yourself regretting you saved me?"

"Is not 'bout you," He said finally opening his eyes. "Yafter sleep is when do best thinking."

He had no idea why she insisted on using English in front of her, on several occasions she had proven her Russian to flawless. Russian wasn't the only language she knew, in China she had used impeccable Mandarin, and he had witnessed her reading books in both German and French. She was probably built knowing all languages, but when he first met her, in Japan, she never spoke. Of course at that meeting time was limited, she was put in the room to kill him, to finish off what the others had been unable to do.

"I think we have been followed again, I keep seeing a black shadow moving from rooftop to rooftop." She said.

"Damn, ve will move faster than expected," he replied.

"Quicker."

"Is that why you insist on English, to straighten me yout every time a mistake comes across?" He says.

"We will have to go to America sooner or later, plus more people speak English here than Russian. Probably because of the tourists." She says getting up from the chair. "Maybe she can help." She hands him the local newspaper as she walks to get another book from her bag.

Finally he rolls his feet onto the floor and sits at the edge of the bed. He looks at the page she has the paper folded to and realizes she might be right. He can't make out the words on the page but he has no doubts about the phone number.

"How sure you are she will naught keel you on sight?"

The creature takes off her robe, even though anatomically she has no external human parts Bayman still finds himself embarrassed. He quickly turns away and looks back at the newspaper.

"I yate it when you does that." He says.

"I don't think she even knew about me until the very end. I don't think she had any idea what Donovan was up to, that he was trying to create a creature in his lab." She relpies.

"You should not call yourself dat. You have soul of a real person. I mean you are deserving of living." He says peeking around to see if she has become more presentable.

He rolls stands up and heads to the bathroom to brush his teeth before making any calls. As he stands up she goes back to her spot in the chair by the window, book in hand. She has changed into a nicer blouse and dress with heels. He looks at her for a second and then continues, flipping the switch as he enters the bathroom.

"Nikita, keep looking yout for that black person on roof tops." He says.

"The person is not necessarily black, whatever they are wearing is. Yes if I see it I will let you know. I really love the name you gave me, it is so much nicer than going by my project name, Alpha-152" She says not looking up. She has better peripheral vision than most have when looking right at an object, never opens the window only glancing through the side where the curtains end. It has been dark for a while now, and she knows that they will be moving soon, even though their purseuers have the advantage at night, someone who looks like her cannot go out when lots of people are around.

He smiles briefly at her comment and finishes up brushing his teeth quickly giving his mouth one final rinse before grabbing a towel and drying his face. He carries the towel with him and sets it next to him on the edge of the bed by the phone. He grabs the paper from the other side and begins to dial the numbers.

"I need to speak to Helena Douglas," He says into the phone. "No, I do not care about her going on stage. This is a matter of life or death" There is a pause and finally he speaks again, "Thank you, I will hold."

He waits on the phone for a second and quickly glances to Nikita in the corner, he nods approvingly.

"Yes Mrs. Douglas, do you remember me I believe we had business in the past." He waits a second; "Good meet me behind your music place at exactly 10:45."

He hangs up the phone. "I yonly have one more call to make,"

The front office for the Motel currently boarding a man and something made to resemble a woman, is just as disgusting as the rooms they rent. The manager sits at a small chair behind the desk watching TV as the occasional customer comes in and rents rooms by the hour, or sometimes for the entire night. He is performing his usual ritual of watching whatever crappy sitcom is on at 8:15 when a strange thing happens, he gets a phone call and a customer walks in at the same time. The customer is a well-built Asian man about 5'10" who is carrying no bags and appears to have not come in a car. 'Great, another vagrant looking to steal towels,' he thinks to himself and decides to answer the phone instead.

"Front desk," He says into the receiver and puts up a finger to the man in front of him stating it will be a moment. "Yes, I do know the place, it is a very nice Opera house, yes when you come check out I will have it marked on one of the small promotional maps I have. Yes of course, no problem."

The manager quickly writes something on a piece of paper as the man in the lobby watches. As he finishes writing he looks to help the customer only to find the lobby vacant.

"That's strange."


	4. Chapter 4 Enjoy the Show

Chapter 4 – Enjoy the Show 

It was a marvelous show, and Ein and Hitomi they are glad they went. It has been a minute or so since the curtain went down and the audience is still applauding. The curtain again rises for the cast to make their bow and curious to everyone is the absence of the star. Some stop clapping briefly but continued again, she may be the diva but it takes a whole cast to make it wonderful.

The absence of Helena is more worrisome to the young man and woman who came across town to see her. Hitomi looks at Ein and he back at her,

"We should go see if she's ok," Ein says. "With everyone on their feet is should be easy to get back stage."

"I agree," Hitomi replies.

They walk from their front row seats - a significant upgrade from the tickets they paid for - and head to the doors back stage. They quietly open the door and notice a stagehand blocking their way, he is facing the cast so he cannot see them but it would be impossible to get around without him knowing. Ein removes a small metal object from his pocket.

"I thought we had agreed no weapons." Hitomi whispers.

Ein looks at her and smiles, he draws the star back a bit and releases it at a small glass vase in the prop area. The vase shatters and the stagehand heads in that direction to investigate. Ein and Hitomi sneak around to the back stage area, it is mostly deserted now as the applause has started to die down a bit but the performers and hands are still on stage taking bows. As they continue towards what looks to be the dressing rooms Hitomi can't help but think back to their first encounter with Helena in Germany. She didn't blame Helena for all of the events at DOATEC, but she was still curious as to how she even ended up running in to her. Helena loved Paris, and after they had talked over tea on another occasion the question began to gnaw at her even more, why trade France for German. Maybe she intended to bump into us at that health food store, maybe if we had said nothing she would have "ran" into her somewhere else, maybe it wasn't coincidence. 'That's ridiculous,' she thought to herself, 'Helena has always been very friendly to me, and Ein for that matter.'

Ein's voice breaks the silence, "We are here."

Hitomi focuses again and sees Helena's name on the door they are standing by, she looks at the four gold stars below the name and is drawn back to her childhood. Her father was the master of the training hall even when she was young, and passing on his knowledge to his only daughter was of prime importance. He had made a large chart in her bedroom and every year would write down a list of techniques, and next to each one he would place a star when she could perform it and as she got better at the technique he would place another. Four stars meant she had mastered the technique, after she got four stars on each technique he would come in with a new board and the process continued. She knew it wasn't intentional but seeing the show tonight confirmed for Hitomi that Helena definitely deserved her four stars.

"Helena, it is Hitomi and Ein," He says while knocking on the door.

There is no answer. "Helena, are you there we saw the show and wanted to thank you for the front row seats." Comes from Hitomi.

Ein walks over to a small table with a clipboard and telephone on it. He takes the pen attached to the clipboard and unscrews the top, removing the writing part and the spring. She straightens the spring and using the plastic part flattens the metal writing piece. Using this makeshift pick he unlocks the door and opens it slowly, Hitomi looks at him stunned.

"Helena," He talks very softly, "We were just outside and wanted to say 'hello.' "

Hitomi follows him cautiously and they take a second to look around the lavishly decorated room. Hitomi takes special interest in the vanity with its bright lights surrounding the large mirror. It is made of solid Oak and is clearly very expensive, as she sits down at the matching chair she looks at herself in the mirror and that's when several small notes next to the phone catch her eye. One of the handwritten notes is the one she saw Ein write and give to one of the gentlemen when the entered the theater, but the other is more hastily scrawled.

"Ein, look at this," She picks up the note and tries to read it herself. She is unable, her spoken English is better than average but reading the language is another matter.

Ein takes the note and reads it, "We have to go." The look on his face is no longer the calm prepared, stolid face he normally has, this is one of concern

By the time Hitomi gets up Ein is already poking his head to make sure the coast is clear. It is and he and Hitomi make their way down the hallway and locate the back exit, Ein pushes the large door handle and goes through the heavy steel door, Hitomi follows and they find themselves in an alley behind the Opera House. It is a beautiful night, not to hot and not to cold, the perfect weather to be out – even if you had to be out here for hours.


	5. Chapter 5 American Girl

Chapter 5 – American Girl 

America is the land of opportunity if you are smart or attractive, and for Tina she has a little of one and an abundance of the other. She finishes her shower and wraps a towel around her as she walks out of the bathroom into her large bedroom. She takes another towel by the door and dries her hair a little and then flips her head down to wrap the second towel around her damp hair. She walks into the living room and reaches down for the remote and turns on the TV. It is some kind of crime show and they are explaining to the perpetrator how they caught him because they found his hair near the body.

"That's ridiculous, my 'air has so man chem'cals they'd never catch me." She is flipping the channel when there is a knock at the door. "Who'n thee hell."

She walks across the living room into the entryway by her front door. She peeks through the lookout and sees a familiar chest, since her peephole is made for average people it never shows her fathers face. She swings the door open,

"Daddy, what're you do'n here in the middle a tha' day, I thought ya' had some kinna promotional thingy all day?"

"Tina honey, I have some great news, your agent is gonna call ya' later in the day, but I hadda tell ya now!" He says, a smile visible even through his thick beard. "They want ya' ta' fight that masked girl again, and they're gonna pay ya' a ton a' money."

"But last time they kicked me out fer hittin' her with that fold'n' chair. I ain't gonna play by any a them rules that don' allow fold'n' chairs!"

He smiles, "They said they'd use pro wrestlin' rules. So ya' can do 'nything ya' want." He replied, his train of thought interrupted as he notices she is wearing only a towel. "Whatta you doin' standin' the doorway nekid!"

He pushes his way inside and looks back out the front door before he closes it. "They're pre'verts out there who'll take picture of your girl parts'n sell 'em to some skin mag."

She ignores him more focused on a rematch against the masked luchadora who technically won because of a disqualification. She wanted a rematch, not for the money, but because she hated not being able to finish her off. For Tina a strange thing happened her fan base actually went up afterwards; it turned out that the fans went crazy when she produced the chair from under the rink and proceeded to smack her opponent with said chair. When she was disqualified there was nearly a riot in the arena, and by the next day she had the clever moniker 'Breakin' Teeth Tina.'

"Ya' still ain't said how much they'd pay?" She says.

"They're gonna' give ya' a million just for showin' up and 'nother 500 gran' if ya' beat 'er." He replies smiling again.

"A million dollars! They gonna' give me a million dollars just to fight 'er!" She looks at him with disbelief, "What's the catch?"

"Some promoter received a call from some comp'ny 'n Kansas. They wanna' have the fight at some new arena they helped finance," He replies.

"Kansas, there ain't nuttin' but hicks in Kansas."

"Well for what they payin' ya', ya' can put up with some hicks for a cupl'a days," He says.

"Maybe."

"I gotta' get back ta' my TV thing, if your gonna' do it, ya hafta call your agent by 8 tonight," He looks dowan at his watch before continuing, "That gives ya like 6 hours ta' decide."

She locks the door behind him and heads to the bedroom. 'A million bucks just for showing up for a fight, that's like five times what I make a year.' She thinks to herself as she removes the towel, 'and this time the fight will be my rules. I'm gonna' beat that Luchadora this time. Ain't no question 'bout it."


	6. Chapter 6 Reality

Chapter 6 - Reality 

As he looks out the small window on the front of his apartment he cannot help but think about the differences between the way of his ancestors and his own. The dojo he is master of is no longer a small building surrounded by arable land in which the trainees work and learn at the same time. No, his dojo is in shopping center surrounded by a coffee shop and a specialty-clothing store with a large recreation area across the street. He thinks about how disgraced those before him would be, how they would frown upon his pathetic group of students, most of whom have full time jobs and came here because they watched too many martial arts movies.

A familiar face comes from the hallway, she is an attractive female with bright purple hair who is also his half-sister. She notices him looking out the window and knows what he is thinking, she had felt it many times, and each time it is more intense.

Ayane goes to the cabinet and gets out two glasses and turns on the faucet, her purple hair swaying as she moves. After filling each of them up she sets them on the counter and takes a seat in one of the chairs. Hayate walks from the window and sits on one of the tall chairs across from her, he looks into his glass of water lit only by the moon coming through the open window.

As they sit there in silence drinking their water they hear footsteps from the hallway, and they both know who it is. After a few seconds another woman, this one a brunette, walks into the kitchen and sees the two of them. Kasumi is Hayate's sister and Ayane's half-sister and has always made it her duty to watch out for both of them. She looks groggier than the other two who seem as though this is a normal time of night to be awake, and this isn't the first time she has come in and found them sitting here.

"It's 3 in the morning, what are you two doing up?" Kasumi says.

"I will be heading back to bed shortly Kasumi, I just wanted to admire the beautiful night," Replies Hayate.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came in to get some water and saw Hayate, we should go back to bed," Ayane says, "Mother Kasumi demands it." Says continues, looking at Hayate who smiles a bit.

"No let me make sure Ryu has not checked in, then I'll head back to bed." Hayte says to her as he stands up and walks into the kitchen placing his glass in the sink. He heads down the hallway into a bedroom that he has converted into a small office.

He sits down at a small wooden desk in his office, the same desk used by his father, and his father before that. Each of them still had the original dojo, the one built seven generations ago by his ancestor on land they had since before the Europeans had first come to trade. He picks up the small black phone and checks his messages, and he hears it, what he was hoping for. One of his pupils works for a company that creates video games, he has always been good about helping the dojo with any equipment they need, and monitering their radio nearly 24 hours a day. The message is to inform him the Ryu is in Germany and needs assistance in destroying the creature that was created from Kasumi's DNA.

He knows that if Ryu needs help then it is no longer a simple matter, things have become complicated. Last time Ryu called it was to request help in Ukraine, and it was that loss combined with the lawsuit a few years earlier that finally forced him to sell the dojo and his ancestral land. Now he would have a chance to destroy the Alpha creature, the one who goes against nature. This time he will take care of matters personally. Kasumi and Ayane will probably insist on going, especially if they know the nature of his mission.

He leaves his office and walks towards Ayane's room. She is probably still awake and will be the easiest to tell first. He opens the door slowly and is glad to see that she has gone back to bed with her robe on, he creeps into the room and is startled by her voice,

"Hayate, is that you?"

"Ryu needs help in Germany, I am heading there now," He answers.

"I will come with you, if Ryu needs help I should be there. Even though we weren't there, what happened in Ukraine still haunts me, I knew so many of them."

"Good, you go wake up Kasumi, she has a tendency to sleep without modesty and it makes me uncomfortable," He whispers.

He can hear her chuckle at this and he quietly leaves the room and goes to a small closet in the living room and pulls out a large black bag. Behind the bag is a black sheet covering up something very lumpy, he removes the sheet and is immediately looking at all kinds of Weapons. He begins placing them in the bag when Ayane and Kasumi enter the living room, dressed in black for stealth movement.

"Good you are both ready, lets head to the airport we must find a way to sneak on board." Says Hayate and all three head out the front door.


	7. Chapter 7 Shattered Illusions

Chapter 7 – Shattered Illusions 

Ein and Hitomi both find themselves uneasy as they enter the alley and begin to look around. There is almost no lighting only what little comes from the moon and the few windows sprinkled along the various buildings. Hitomi notices something sparkling about twenty feet ahead of them and touches Ein's arm and the points toward it. He nods and they slowly creep along the alley towards the flashing object.

As they get closer they can make out some faces and a faint blue-green light. They also see the object is a tiara in what looks to be Helena, they can't be sure since her back is towards them.

"Helena," Calls Hitomi hoping she is not embarrassing herself.

Helena flips around to look behind her, as she does Hitomi and Ein can see who she is talking to, they can see the where the blue-green light comes from. They each gasp, and then each of them falls back into an attack stance. Nikita and Bayman do the same, Helena is left in the middle between four people who have every intention of fighting to the death. She reacts quickly moving toward Ein and Hitomi, she waves her hands to say calm down.

"Wait, they called me because they need help, they are not here to harm anyone," Says Helena.

"Why are they here at all, she… it is a killing machine, that is all it knows!" Hitomi retorts.

"No she is different, apparently when the towers exploded some kind of EMP designed to destroy all the data went off. She was still close enough that the blast neutralized the chip that directed her thoughts towards evil," Explains Helena. "Bayman ran across her in China and since then they have been on the run from some Ninjas, the Russian secret police, and the security force from an Italian genetics company."

Hitomi and Ein relax slightly and look at each other, neither one is totally convinced, her but her story is plausible. They put their fists down and move closer to Helena. Nikita (Alpha-152) and Bayman also come closer, their hearts still pounding from the expectation of a fight.

"So how did you know Helena would be in Germany?" Says Hitomi.

"We had no way of knowing, we come through Poland evading enemies and stay night in Berlin," Says Bayman.

"Where to after Berlin?" Says Ein.

"We were going to eventually make our way to America. It seems Europe and Asia are too hot for us, we need someplace we can escape from everyone," Nikita says.

Everyone but Bayman is shocked, all three still believed she was unable to speak. She looks at them and smiles a bit, embarrassed as though she has said something wrong.

"Apparently her silence was part of chip. When broken she speaks like champion," Says Bayman.

"We should move before someone sees us, we will head to my house, it has a large wall around it and tomarrow I will have my private plane ready." Says Helena.

"You have your own plane?" Hitomi asks.

"Well my father was a successful industrialist," Replies Helena.

The five of them head toward the end of the alley to hail a taxi. From the roof above Ryu watches his prey and bides his time for the perfect moment to attack. As he looks at them go he notices something flash him in the eye. He pulls out a pair of binoculars from the back of his belt and turns on the night vision. He looks through them at the rooftop across the alley and sees a man aiming a large rifle into the alley, more specifically at the creature he is to destroy.

Ryu determines the would-be assassins methods unacceptable, he pulls out a cuboid piece of metal about six inches long and one half inch on all sides. It has been sharpend to a point at one end, and he places the blunt end against the palm of his hand. He snaps his wrist quickly and the object flies over the alley and finds soft flesh in which to bury itself. The sniper across the way grabs his neck and the piece of metal sticking out of it, he pulls the foreign object out as his eyes roll back into his head. His body falls to the rooftop making a quiet thud sound.

The group of five on the ground manages to hail two taxis and Helena, Hitomi, and Nikita get in the front one with Bayman and Ein in the second car following. Ryu reaches into a small pouch and finds it empty, he had expected to find one of the self adhesive tracking bugs he kept with him. Without the bugs he will need to track them in person. His first task is getting off the roof. He pulls out a small piece of wire and swings it over a telephone pole and slides along the cable to another pole with a ladder which he goes down, jumping to the sidewalk about half-way down.

On the ground he sees the headlights of another cab, he pulls the black cloth down exposing his dark brown hair trying to make himself look as normal as possible. As the car approaches he pulls out the same small plastic piece he sent the message to Hayate with, and presses a button on the side, a red light on top begins flashing. He gets in the cab and knowing he speaks no German hopes the driver speaks some English.

"Follow… that… car," He says the driver looks at him strangely.

"Yeah sure buddy, no problem." Comes from the driver.


	8. Chapter 8 Family Tradition

Chapter 8 – Family Tradition 

It has been 24 hours since she got the news that she would soon be a millionaire and while that news is good, the idea of spending any time in Kansas isn't. She gets out of her first class seat and tries to look back into coach, to many people have stood up and her father is nowhere in sight. She disembarks through the Jet way and makes her way into the waiting area by the ticket counter. After a few minutes her father comes out and she smiles and waves to him, he makes his way over to her and they head toward baggage claim.

They wait for a few minutes and their bags come along the moving counter toward them, Bass picks up both bags and they head to the door. As the door opens a burst of heat smacks them in the face, it is hot outside and there is a strong wind blowing. Fortunately there is a sign held by a man in a black suit in front of a stretch SUV, he is holding a sign that says 'Armstrong'. Bass is the first to notice and grins as he nudges Tina and points.

"Looks like it is first class all the way, nothing but the best for my girl." He says as they walk toward the vehicle.

The man opens the back door and they get inside, they find the air conditioning has been running and inside the vehicle the temperature is nice and cool. Inside there is a note taped to a bottle of Champaign, it reads:

Tonight you have free, tomorrow morning we have several local TV and radio shows, and in the evening is your match. Enjoy the limo, and the Champaign for your entire trip.

Thanks,

Anssec Aircraft

Tina finishes reading it and hands it to her father, he reads it and crumples it up. He takes the chilled bottle of Champaign and untwists the top part and pops the cork. He then takes two flutes and fills each with the bubble liquid inside, he sets the bottle on a small table and hands a glass to Tina. They each hold the flute by the larger part at top, Bass takes a second to enjoy the smell of the liquid.

"To my baby girl, everyday she makes me more 'n more proud to be her daddy," Says Bass holding the glass up.

"Oh dad, you're wors'n a girl most times," She replies and then taps her glass against his. With one gulp the glass is left empty.

"Honey, ya' gonna' kill yourself drinkin' like that," Says Bass.

"Daddy I gotta' enjoy youth while I'm still young," Comes her retort as she opens a bottle of bourbon from the bar next to the back seat.

Bourbon is her father's favorite drink, and nothing can spoil it more than adding anything to it save ice. She grabs two small tumblers next to the bar and places them on the small table adjacent to where Bass is sitting. Placing the bottle next to the glasses she turns and opens the small refrigerator under where the alcohol is kept. She pulls out a small bucket full of ice and places three cubes in each. As she is putting the ice back she notices shot glasses next to the liquor glass and grabs two of them and places them next to the bottle. She pours each shot glass and then fills up the glasses with ice and pours the bourbon a little over half way.

"A shot ta' warm ya' up, and a drink to cool ya' down," She says smiling.

"You really are my kid," He grabs the shot glass first. "The first one's always fer Texas."

"Fer Texas," She echoes.

He slams the shot back and slams the glass on the table. She drinks the shot and immediately follows suit slamming the shot glass on the table. They each take a second and let the warm feeling from the alcohol make its way down their esophagus. Tina makes a quick face over the taste of the drink and then goes back to normal.

Bass notices this and laughs a bit, "Good stuff huh? Jim always did know how ta' make a good Bourbon."

With that they relax back into their seats, Tina locates the remote and turns on the TV. She flips through a couple of channels until she finds a daytime show. Finally she arrives at a show which several people on stage and the question of male paternity is being tested. She tosses the remote onto the empty seat next to her and sips her bourbon. Bass takes a sip and sets the glass on the end table next to him, he lays down on the seat and closes his eyes.


End file.
